When I'm With You
by Runs with Werewolfs
Summary: "I don't care, because with your arms around me, nothing can go wrong and nothing can ever hurt me" Jagan fluff.


When I'm With You

* * *

_They didn't want us to be together. They wanted us to go after the girls who through themselves all over us. I didn't like girls. I thought they could be super annoying. How they wanted to be held all the time, how they wanted to me to be the one to lead them. If I could have just found a girl who didn't want me to be a guy all the time, a girl who didn't want me to be perfect and confident and heroic 24/7, I would have dated her in a heartbeat. Camille was as close as I got to that, but she still wanted me to be confident and never have self-doubt. I just couldn't live up to expectations all the time, from anyone. Girls in LA, at least all the ones I'd met, had all these delusions of grandeur. _

_I suppose it's kind of weird that in my search for something real, something natural, I found James. James is the epitome of fake at times, with all of his fake tan and his hair product. But at the time, he's got a sense of realism in him. He knows when something __**isn't**__ going to happen. I think that's why he was so insistent on his dream. He knew it was going to happen in time. He knows what fake is, he would never be those girls. And he understands the insecurities that we all have. _

_When we came out to Gustavo, he didn't care. He just said to get on with it and go record. Griffin though, Griffin was more than a little upset with us. He said that we'd never make it in Hollywood without a powerful woman by our sides, on our arms. I'd never make it in Hollywood with Camille on my arm, she'd end up killing me. But he had been insistent and he'd set us up with four girls, even though Kendall and Carlos were not gay, they didn't have girlfriends. . Kendall and Jo had been forced together again, since Griffin had just signed her to our company. Kendall had eventually laughed in Jo's face and broken up with her, ending up with no one and he was happy that way. Carlos ended up dating this new girl to the company, probably the realest girl any of us had ever met in Hollywood and he'd eventually fallen in love with her for real. _

_James had been forced into dating Mercedes. I didn't understand it, what kind of father forced his daughter into dating a man who would never love her? Griffin had never made much sense to me. Nothing he did ever made sense, I sometimes wondered if he'd even finished College. _

_I'd been stuck with Camille, who had figured out early on that I didn't love her, not like that. She ended up being my best friend outside of the guys, and she often helped me and James have secret meetings, by throwing everyone else except Carlos and Kendall off our trail and offering up her apartment for meetings, along with coming along on dates between us so it just looked like a group of friends hanging out. Her drama was just too crazy for me._

_What James and I did in our apartment was our business, of course, but Mercedes had a way of popping up in the most awkward times. Like the time I'd fallen asleep in James' arms. Or the time we'd been this close to making out. She knew something was up, and she didn't like it. So times between me and James became less and less often, because she would drag him away from me. She didn't like me._

_But she couldn't keep us apart at night. Night was my favorite part of the day. Mercedes had a strict curfew set upon her by her father, who didn't realize that James and I lived together. I could always count on being in James' arms for 8 solid hours a day, even if we were asleep for most of it. It was the one thing I had over Mercedes Griffin and damn, I was going to hold it over my ex girlfriend and James' current girlfriend's head. _

_I, Logan Mitchell, had James' Diamond's heart._

* * *

"Mercedes" James voice was surprised and slightly annoyed. He hated it when she showed up to pester him at work. Camille and Leah, Carlos' girlfriend, were the only girls we didn't mind being here. Kendall's new forced upon him girlfriend, Lilly, was just as annoying as Mercedes and twice as spoiled, so he didn't even tell her where he worked.

I sat down next to Leah and Camille, watching James trying to push Mercedes off of him. Leah gave me a sympathetic look as Carlos joined us. Camille smiled sadly at me as Kendall joined her on the other side. There was something going on there, just nothing they could admit yet. I don't think either one of them knew the other liked them.

Camille had discovered feeling for Kendall once she'd figured out I was gay. Kendall had realized he loved her when he'd found out she was helping me so much and how sweet she was to help me. She just wasn't my type at all or I'd probably fall in love with her and not let Kendall have her. She was a great catch, but not as great as James was.

"Mercedes, I'm at work, please leave me alone!" James shouted, jumping backwards. I looked up in time to see him go tumbling over the drum kit and stood up to make sure was okay. He blinked stupidly at me, slightly dazed from hitting his head on the wall.

"You okay?" I asked, holding a hand out to help him up. He shook his head, trying to clear the haze out his head and took my hand. I pulled him up, and his hand lingered in mine for longer than it would have if it had been Kendall or Carlos helping him up or needing help.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I think. My leg hurts though and my head-"

I glanced down to his leg and groaned. He had managed to cut his leg on the drums as he had fallen. It wasn't a little scratch, it was a gash. "James, you need to go sit down, you have a huge gash in your leg. And you hit your head, hard. Gustavo, we need the rest of the day off." I announced, leading James over to a chair. "Carlos, go get me some paper towels and Kendall, go find the first aid kit. Kelly, do we have any aspirin?" I shot off orders, feeling like a doctor in the O.R.

Kelly nodded "I'll go get some. Anything else?"

"Maybe an ice pack to put his head, I think he just hit it hard enough to cause a bump or bruise" I said, taking James' bandana from his wrist, despite protests, and pressing it to his leg.

Camille and Leah were dealing with Mercedes, Leah calmly trying to explain to her that she needed to leave because she had been the cause of hurting James and she was causing issues for us at work, Camille screaming some random murderer nonsense, probably from some role she'd auditioned for. I had to laugh, Camille was hilarious when she got all dramatic like that, but I just couldn't handle dating a million girls who all looked exactly alike.

James looked down at me, a frown on his face. "Is it going to be okay?"

"I think it will be, once I clean it and patch it up. It's not too deep, just big and there's a lot of blood. I'd say you managed to take several layers of skin off. Its your head I'm more worried about." I told him. "You hit it hard, there could be a concussion involved. I know how to check for that without taking you to the hospital, but if you start feeling like you might pass out, please let me know. If you fall asleep with a concussion, it could lead to coma." I said, looking up at him. His eyes seemed focused and he seemed to be fully there, but I was worried because he had been dazed a minute ago.

"I feel fine. Except a little head ache where I hit it and my leg hurts" James said as Kelly came with the items I had requested. She handed him the ice pack and he applied it to where he had hit his head, wincing slightly at the cold. She sat the aspirin and water down on the little side table next to his chair.

Carlos arrived with the paper towels shortly after, followed by Kendall with first aid. "Jamie, I'm sorry, but this is going to sting a lot" I said as I dug through the kit for the rubbing alcohol. I poured it onto a paper towel and pressed it to his leg, biting my lip at his sharp intake of breath. Kendall joined me on the floor, Carlos standing behind James, offering to hold the ice pack to his head. James obliged, letting out a small whimper at the sting. I reached up and grabbed his hand, commanding Kendall to find me the gauze and the tape.

I repeated the cleaning process, just to make sure it was clean and then with Kendall's help, I bandaged his leg. He had been wearing basketball shorts today since we had been dancing and it was summer, so I was glad I didn't have to deal with clothes in the way or deal with him freaking out later over his clothes being ruined. He would probably be upset enough about the bandana.

I cleaned up the blood dripping down his leg next before standing up. "Okay, James, follow my finger with your eyes" I commanded. Gustavo, Kelly and the girls were standing at the wall, staring at the interaction. I laughed slightly as Carlos' eyes followed my finger as well. He'd gotten so many concussions (every time he forgot to wear his helmet, in fact. It was kind of why he wore the helmet) that he was used to me checking him for concussions.

After a few more simple tests, I concluded that James did not have a concussion, and nodded in satisfaction. "Gustavo, he needs to go home, he can't dance on that leg" I said, handing James the pill and water. "Why don't we take a half hour break, and I'll take him home. Then I'll come back and we can go over some stuff that James already has down or something" I suggested. "We can work on Carlos' and my dancing and Kendall's bad boyness?"

Gustavo nodded. "Whatever." He said as I helped James stand up again.

Mercedes moved to follow me and James out of the building, but I turned on her. "Mercedes, no. He needs rest and to be left _alone. _He wants to be left alone." I said. Leah came up behind Mercedes, grabbing the blonde's arm lightly. "Kelly, could you call Griffin and tell him his daughter is being an annoyance and he needs to take care of it?" I asked, hand on James' back lightly.

Kelly nodded and Mercedes pouted. I rolled my eyes at her and then at Camille, who nodded at me in agreement.

_Bitch is crazy._

* * *

I finally got James upstairs and into the apartment, despite his complaints that his head really hurt. Ms. Knight looked up at me as I led James into the apartment, eyes concerned. "He fell over the drum kit. He's got a bad head ache and his leg is hurt. It's probably not necessary, but I think he should stay off his leg until I come back this afternoon and I can check it again" I explained. James gave me an upset look, but I shook my head at him.

"Okay. What happened to make him fall?" she asked, coming around to take a look at his head.

"Oh, Mercedes was all over him and he kind of jumped back and went over the drums." I said. He nodded, letting me pull him into our room.

"Okay, lie down, watch TV, read, I'll go get your laptop, just stay in bed until I get back" I told him. He looked up at me, slightly annoyed. "Babe, you shouldn't walk around on that leg, you could make the bandages come loose or you could make it deeper, and I don't want you walking around with your head hurting like that, just in case something's wrong. Why don't you take a nap or something?" I suggested.

He sighed "Okay. Fine. But only because you're asking me too"

I put my hand on his shoulder. "I'll miss you, okay?" I said, before turning around and heading towards his desk for his computer. I put it on his nightstand. "If you get bored, here's your laptop. I'll be back in a few hours, probably around dinner time. Do you want me to bring you anything home?"

He looked up at me again, a smile on his face "Just your cute self" he said. I smiled and leaned down for a kiss. He obliged and when I pulled away, I didn't even want to leave. I'd much rather stay here with him forever.

"I love you babe" I said. He smiled at me.

"Don't let Mercedes come, okay?" he said, worried.

I smiled "I'll tell Mama Knight not to let her in." I assured him, ruffling his hair. He glared at me, but then smiled, flopping down onto the pillows and reaching for the TV remote on my pillow. I smiled and shut the door behind me as I left.

_It killed me to leave. I''d like to be with him forever. _

* * *

The other guys and I were getting ready to leave, Carlos and Kendall arguing about some nonsense, when Mercedes showed up again. She was angry, so I assumed she'd been over to our apartment and been denied entrance.

She grabbed me by my shirt and dragged me into the record studio, a seriously pissed off look on her face. "Look, Mitchell" she began as she shoved me against a wall "You might _think _that you and James have something real, but you _don't. He is and always will be mine. I can get you kicked out of this band, I can get anything I want"_

"Mercedes, does it really not bother you that he doesn't want you? That he doesn't enjoy kissing you? That he's happy with someone else, yet you're standing in the way?" I stammered at her, trying to push her off on me, trying to avoid breaking one of 150 dollar nails. She glared at me.

"No, it doesn't. Because he deserves better than you" she barked at me. What a bitch.

"He deserves better than you, Mercedes" Carlos' voice came from the door. "We all deserve better than the devil spawn of Griffin and his second wife." He said. "Logan, Gustavo wants to talk to you. Mercedes, no one wants to talk to you"

Mercedes let go of me, but not before kicking me in the shin. As I passed her, she grabbed me again "No one loves you Logan. James will get over you eventually. Camille doesn't love you. I bet Carlos and Kendall don't even like you" she hissed. "Your own parents didn't want you. I will get James, and he will forget about you. Stay away from him or else you're out of the band"

I fled after that, not even stopping to talk to Gustavo. Kendall and Carlos would get a ride with Kelly if I left, so I drove myself home.

It was late, around 7, but when I got home, Mama Knight had dinner waiting. Mercedes was right, even my own parents had abandoned me. Mama Knight had taken me in, without a thought, because she was basically love in a maternal, female form. But did anyone else want me?

"Hey Logan, I made dinner-"

"I'm not very hungry. I think I'm going to go to bed" I muttered, storming to my room.

When I got to our room, James was fast asleep, holding my pillow like he would hold me. I collapsed onto the bed, reaching for my other pillow. James stirred and looked at me. "Hey, baby. Come here" he murmured, automatically sensing that I was upset about something.

I just starred blankly at him, wondering if he would ever leave me. He sighed and reached over, hand on my hip. "Hey, how was your day?" he asked softly.

"It was good. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up" I said softly.

"No, that's okay." James said "Logie, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing" I said, hearing Carlos and Kendall arriving in the living room.

"CARLOS! KENDALL, GET IN HERE" I jumped at James' shout. Kendall and Carlos bolted into our room.

"What, James?" Kendall sounded worried, like something was wrong, especially on seeing me lying face down on the bed.

"Why is Logan upset? He looks like he's about to cry" James said "I swear, if you two did something to him, I'll kill you both slowly and painfully using white hot knives"

Kendall shrugged, but Carlos' face dropped "We didn't do anything, James. Mercedes kind of chewed him out and said some things" Carlos said. "I saw her pinning him to the wall and she looked pissed, so I saved him" he explained.

James nodded "Okay, you guys are good then" he said. As they left, he pulled himself up on the bed and then grabbed me around the waist, pulling me into his lap. "Baby, what did she say?" he whispered.

"N-"

"Logan, please tell me so I know what to tell her father when I explain why I broke up with her" he whispered. "Please tell me so I can break up with her and have a leg to stand on"

"She said no one really loved me and-" I was broken off by James slamming his lips into mine.

"She was wrong. I love you and I'll never stop. Even if Cuda becomes a person." James said when he pulled away. "She's the ultimate dumb blonde, don't listen to her" he said. "I love you. You're the one I want. She's just jealous. I don't want her."

"But my parents-"

"are stupid." James cut me off. "Logan, I love and adore you, because you're amazing. You've got plenty of people who love you and you have me. I want to be with you because when I'm with you everything is okay. I want you by my side forever. You're mine, and I'm yours. You have my heart. I love you and want you." James held me tight. I loved being held tight. "I don't want some girl who's soft and smells nice. You're soft and you smell nice AND you're nicer than any girl I've ever met" James brushed his hands across my face. "I fall harder for you every day and I don't care what anyone else says on the subject. I love you and nothing matters when I'm with you."

"James, I love you too, but Griffin doesn't want us to be together. Mercedes says she'll get me kicked out of the band if we stay together" I whispered against his chest. He growled softly.

"She can't do that. Gustavo owns us, Griffin just sponsors us now." James said "She can't do anything about it. Gustavo has control of us. Griffin's only sponsorship term was that he can define who we date. Gustavo can and will back us up on this one."

I snuggled into his arms. "You're sure you love me"

"Positive"

_That's all I needed to hear. _

* * *

The next day, James broke up with Mercedes, after explaining everything to Griffin and Gustavo. It had turned out Griffin had decided anyways that he did want his daughter to be with someone who loved her. He didn't want the public knowing about me and James, but he agreed that we could secretly date, which was okay with both of us since we didn't want to deal with haters anyways.

I am also officially an amazing friend, because I pointed out that Kendall and Camille had a thing for each other. He agreed to let them date, as long as Carlos and Leah didn't pull any surprises on him. Of course, now we just had to convince Kendall and Camille that they should date, but that was a whole different story.

Needless to say, Mercedes was less than happy with James when he told her, gently, that it was over. She turned on me immediately, even though I was standing behind James, cowering slightly. "It's him! He brainwashed you into thinking that you love him! Jamesey, how could you let him do that to you?"she shouted.

James grabbed a hold of my hand, pulling me to his side "Because, Mercedes, he loves me. He knows the real me. He doesn't love me because I'm beautiful. When I'm with him, even when I've just spent an hour and a half being basically raped by you, everything is okay in the world. He's smart and he's kind and he's everything I've ever wanted. I love him and nothing will change that" he said.

"He's not even pretty" she scoffed. Okay, that hurt more than it should have.

"Hey, he was pretty enough that you wanted him once. And beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think Logan is just as beautiful as I am."

"I think you're just as stupid as helmet boy is" Mercedes scoffed. James rolled his eyes.

"I don't care. Carlos isn't stupid. And it's still over, Mercedes. It never even started." James said. She raised her hand, like she was going to smack him or me. I winced away from the slap, but he stood his ground, even though it would mess up his pretty face to be slapped.

I looked back up, in time for her hand to connect with my cheek. I squeaked in pain. James would never hit a girl, but he looked to Camille at that point, begging her to react. He pulled me tighter to him, protecting me as Mercedes hand flew back again. He ducked his own head, deciding against getting hurt and using himself to shield me.

Camille was on Mercedes at that point, trying to pull her back. James simply picked me up off my feet once Camille got Mercedes into the lobby of Rocque Records. "Logan, I'm sorry, I wouldn't have asked you to come if I had known she'd freak out like that. I didn't think she'd hurt you" he whispered.

I just buried my head into his chest "It's okay. I thought she had a little more control than that too. I'm not really hurt. Just a little sting" I assured him.

He was still worried though, as he tilted my chin up to see my face. "Oh- _Logan" _

"It's not that bad"

"She hit you hard. I can see exactly where she hit. I should have protected you" He said. "Even if it would have messed with my face." He loved me more than he loved himself. Am I even in the same world? Who is this man and where is James Diamond?

James smiled at my expression, anger still clouding his eyes. "Logie, I'm so sorry." He said "If I was the kind who would hit a woman, even that woman, you know I would go make sure her face looked exactly like yours did. I think Camille might just do that for us,"

I put my head back into his chest. I liked it there, it felt safe. Ever since my parents had disowned me for being with James, his chest was one of the few places I felt truly safe. All I wanted was to be where he was. I knew how illogical it was, because we couldn't do everything together, but I felt safest with him. He wanted me to feel safe, so he tried to stick with me. I liked having his arms around me, so he liked having them there.

He put his chin on the top of my head, gently rocking. I don't know why, I think he may have been shaking out of anger, but either way, I could feel a gentle movement in his arms.

"James?" I spoke up. "Are you okay?"

"No, Logan, I'm not. I'm really, really upset. Like, the time Carlos borrowed my Cuda and used it wrong upset. You got hurt, even if it was a little, and I feel like it was my fault. I'm so upset that I don't know how to react, but I'd better not see her out there"

I sighed "James, I'm okay, really. Don't get all upset." I whispered. "I'm okay, as long as you're here. Don't get upset and do something irrational." I added. James wasn't known for making the best decisions when he was upset or riled up.

"I won't." he whispered into my ear. "I just want to know you're okay. Ever since you're dad- said those things about you- I worry and want you to be loved. I love you and I hate that someone else would hate you because of how much I love you."

"I know. James, nothing can change the fact that I love you and nothing can change the fact that people, including my parents, are homophobic." I said "But I don't care, because with your arms around me, nothing can go wrong and nothing can ever hurt me. Just promise me you'll never leave me and I'll always be okay"

"We'll be together"

_With you by my side, nothing can change the fact that I'm safe and secure. You've always got an arm around me, every second you can. There's something about those muscles and your defensive bottles of Cuda that you use when you need to ward people off that lets me know you'll always be mine and I'm okay with whatever happens as long as that remains true. I just want to know where you keep those bottles of Cuda. I really do. It's one of the few things I've never been able to figure out and it kind of drive me nuts. _

* * *

A/N: Okay, so hopefully they weren't horribly out of character….. Logan was perfectly in character I THINK and hopefully James wasn't too bad….I think I nailed Camille too, she seems like she's totally crazy but a great friend. And Mercedes seems like a physco bitch when she doesn't get her way, so yeah…. I've never actually written her before, so IDK!

I know, there's a TON of people getting hurt, James with his leg and then Logan's face, but idk, it worked for the story and yeah. I was listening to Worldwide and to Nothing Even Matters A LOT when I wrote this, so yeah, I took stuff from them a little bit cuz they're amazing songs.

Okay, so chapter four of Two is Better than One goes up sometimes tonight! So keep an eye out and check out my other story, How Did I Get Here?

I wrote this though, because on my poll 12 people wanted to see more Jagan and I ALWAYS deliver….. half the time….


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